NADH: ENERGY FOR BRAIN AND BODY

by James Miller

A very safe and happy holiday season wishes to you from the House of Buckle! We are in the final few week of 2019, can you believe it?! You may not have had time to even notice as the last couple months of the year are always a blur. Think about it for a moment. From Halloween to New Year’s, things seem to speed up for most everybody. In that short time span you have combinations of the following: holiday celebrations, family gatherings, extended travel, year-end business close outs, seasonal shopping, school semester finals, etc. In short, there is a LOT packed into the last eight weeks of any given year! Stress usually goes up, sleep goes down and when you throw in colder weather to all of this, immune systems get compromised and sickness rises. Phew, that’s a lot! There are many times during the last couple of months that you find yourself tired and looking for more energy (and daylight hours!). While I can’t help you with the daylight piece, I may have a viable, natural, healthy solution for more energy. And the odds are, you have not heard of it either! Today we are going to talk about a little something called NADH.

What is NADH?

NADH, or, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide is the active coenzyme form of niacin (vitamin B3). It is considered a reduced co-enzyme.

What does NADH do?

To further explain, enzymes catalyze our biological processes in route to creating new products in our bodies that we must have for survival. Imagine that an enzyme is like an engine that transposes one material into another one. Specifically speaking, enzymes catalyze the breakdown of food into smaller components in living cells. This process is needed to convert food into energy and water. If the enzyme is the engine, then the co-enzyme is the fuel that makes the engine go. A coenzyme is needed to make the complimentary enzyme work. NADH is one such coenzyme. If you are deficient in NADH, you will be energy deficient at the cellular level. In short, you don’t have enough gas for your engine! This is what produces FATIGUE. Conversely, the MORE NADH you have the more fuel you have available to create energy. Oh, and the “H” in NADH stand for high energy hydrogen (which is what differentiates NADH from NAD+, but I digress). NADH occurs naturally in the body and plays an essential role in the production of energy in every human cell. As we age, the levels of NADH in our bodies decline (like with most everything ☹).

Potential health benefits of NADH:

The more NADH your cells have, the more energy they can produce!

  • Combat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): Supplementing with NADH may help your body produce more energy which in turn helps battle CFS.
  • Increased athletic performance: The increased energy production also helps some athletes improve their athletic performance/workouts!
  • Improved mental cognition/clarity/memory: By increasing the production of neurotransmitters (adrenaline), cognitive performance improves. NADH does this in part by stimulating tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine production.
  • Cellular immune system enhancer: NADH is directly involved in our cellular immune system defense by providing the energy necessary for white blood cells (macrophages to be specific) to ‘eat’ foreign invaders.  
  • Antioxidant: An antioxidant is a substance that acts against oxidation. Oxidation occurs when an atom called a free radical (an atom with an unpaired oxygen molecule) steals oxygen molecules from other atoms, creating more free radicals and leaving a trail of damaged cells in its wake; a bad situation biologically speaking. But when you introduce antioxidants to the situation you offer the solution. Antioxidants act against oxidation by supplying the oxygen molecules these free radicals are on the hunt for. With the oxygen now supplied by the antioxidant, the free radical leaves healthy cells alone, thus reducing oxidation in the body. NADH is a POWERFUL antioxidant.

It is also reported to potentially help with the following:

  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Jet lag
  • High blood pressure
  • Lowers cholesterol
  • Opposes alcohol’s effects on the liver

Are there side effects?

NADH appears to be safe for most people when taken for short durations (12 weeks).

Dosing:

The recommended dose is between 5mg-10mg per day. I would suggest starting with 5mg and working your way up to 10mg if you wish. You can take this daily for up to 12 weeks and then you will want to cycle off for a couple weeks before starting again.

If you want to purchase and give it a try, take a look at this brand found here.

I would love for some of you to give this shot and report back on how it worked! I plan on trying this out myself!

That’s all for today, folks. Thank you for taking the time to stop by the House of Buckle and as always, please feel free to reach out with questions! You can email me at jim@buckleburycares.com.

Have a GREAT rest of your day and as always, remember, at Bucklebury, we believe your best wealth is your health! Until next time, have a great day!

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